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Author Topic: Anyone familiar with worker's compensation?
Stephan
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I have the flu for the second time in four months (it is not H1N1). I had used up all my sick days from the first round and a back injury (not work related). So I had to take the last three days without pay. I am a teacher with 114 students at a school with over 1,000. I know I was infected there.

The worst part is that the school refuses to stock the bathrooms with soap and papertowels because students have stolen those items in the past. Even after the county publicly stated that ALL schools would have bathrooms stocked considering the H1N1 outbreak. Three schools in my district were even closed due to potential H1N1 infections.

So, does anyone know what my chances are if I try for worker's compensation for those three days?

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Redskullvw
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Not a chance.
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Belle
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Nope. No chance at all.
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Glenn Arnold
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Worker's comp is for injuries sustained on the job, not illness. And workers comp doesn't kick in until you've been off the job for two weeks.
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andi330
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That's not necessarily true. The time off the job I mean. We've had people paid worker's comp at my job simply for doctor's visits if they were injured at the workplace even if they miss almost no actual time on the job. However, laws vary from state to state.

The illness thing though, I don't think it's covered. You might be able to make the argument that you were more likely to catch the flu because the bathrooms were improperly stocked, but you couldn't conclusively prove that you caught the flu at school, which would almost certainly be a requirement of getting workers comp if illnesses were covered. Your best bet would likely be Short Term Disability, which does include illness but does often require that you be out for a specific number of days (my job requires 8). So even if you were eligible for STD due to illness, if you were only out for 3 days, you probably don't qualify on the time.

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Rakeesh
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quote:

The worst part is that the school refuses to stock the bathrooms with soap and papertowels because students have stolen those items in the past. Even after the county publicly stated that ALL schools would have bathrooms stocked considering the H1N1 outbreak. Three schools in my district were even closed due to potential H1N1 infections.

Well, a case could conceivably be made to end this particular circumstance. Especially now, during a health 'crisis'. I mean, how would students steal soap? Yank off the entire dispenser? And paper towels, bust open the plastic or metal container to get at the towels? Then again, if those things are happening, there are probably much bigger problems in need of addressing.
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Stephan
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quote:
Originally posted by Rakeesh:
quote:

The worst part is that the school refuses to stock the bathrooms with soap and papertowels because students have stolen those items in the past. Even after the county publicly stated that ALL schools would have bathrooms stocked considering the H1N1 outbreak. Three schools in my district were even closed due to potential H1N1 infections.

Well, a case could conceivably be made to end this particular circumstance. Especially now, during a health 'crisis'. I mean, how would students steal soap? Yank off the entire dispenser? And paper towels, bust open the plastic or metal container to get at the towels? Then again, if those things are happening, there are probably much bigger problems in need of addressing.
Agreed, especially on that last point.
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Artemisia Tridentata
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Workers comp most certainly does cover illness. However, the illness needs to be tied to employment by an event or an action. For instance "exposure to x chemical on y day caused the illness.

In this case, to have the most chance of success, I would have to show that on x day students y and z, both ill with A, were in the classroom where I was exposed. The incubation period of A is 5 days. My treating physician certifies that I became ill on x+5.

Even stress relaited diseases have been approved for workers comp in the case of undercover drug inforcement agents and Junior High teachers. Just have your physician file a "physicians first report of injury/illness" and go from there.

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Belle
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More than likely, however, it's too late to do anything about it. Worker's comp laws require the incident be reported to the worker's comp management association within a certain time period since the incident occurred. In California, for example, I believe it's only 24 hours. In Alabama, I think it's 48 hours.

In other words, if you haven't reported it by now, you have no chance of getting it covered.

And illnesses ARE covered, but only for those illnesses that have been pre-determined as stemming from specific occupational hazards. Like certain lung diseases with firefighters, for example. The flu is, however, not occupationally specific to my knowledge.

Even if you had students ill in your classroom there would have to be proof that they were contagious, and you definitively caught it from them on a certain day. With a virus like the flu, that is nearly impossible to prove. It would require testing to be certain that you had the same strain of flu as the infected students and that you contracted it on a certain day, etc. just as Artemisia said.

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Christine
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If you're having trouble with the antibacterial soap at school, you can bring your own GermX. We keep some in the diaper bag.
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DDDaysh
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I think the flu, and other illnesses, are an occupational hazard of teaching in general. However, because they do allow for a certain amount of sick time, and you used some of it for non-occupational hazard reasons, you're probably out of luck getting anything covered. At any rate, you'd almost certainly have to get a lawyer involved, and if your salary is anything like mine was, you're not going to be able to hire a lawyer for the cost of 3-days salary.
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Stephan
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quote:
Originally posted by Christine:
If you're having trouble with the antibacterial soap at school, you can bring your own GermX. We keep some in the diaper bag.

I do. Most of the students still have nothing but cold water to wash their own hands with.
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Glenn Arnold
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quote:
That's not necessarily true. The time off the job I mean. We've had people paid worker's comp at my job simply for doctor's visits if they were injured at the workplace even if they miss almost no actual time on the job. However, laws vary from state to state.
Yes, worker's comp covers the medical aspect immediately, but I was referring to the original poster asking to get three days lost wages covered.

quote:
If you're having trouble with the antibacterial soap at school, you can bring your own GermX. We keep some in the diaper bag.
How is antibacterial soap going to help against a virus? Antibacterial soap should be outlawed.
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andi330
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I don't understand why you're using the student toilets to begin with. Every school that I attended, Elementary, Middle, and High, had bathrooms just for teachers. Maybe your school is different though. Regardless, at this point I think STD would have been your best bet, but like worker's comp, you usually have to report that within a certain time period and be out for a specific number of days.

I would however, file a complaint with the school board that there is not soap or paper towels in the bathrooms at your school. It's not healthy, especially since schools are a playground for germs and childhood illnesses of all kinds, especially since there seems to be a growing number of people who are refusing to vaccinate their children because they believe that vaccinations are bad for you. It used to be that the only non-vaccinated children were those whose religious beliefs prevented them from vaccinating, but that is no longer the case. If we want our children to learn to wash their hands after using the toilet, then it is important to provide the necessary tools.

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Stephan
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quote:
Originally posted by andi330:
I don't understand why you're using the student toilets to begin with. Every school that I attended, Elementary, Middle, and High, had bathrooms just for teachers. Maybe your school is different though. Regardless, at this point I think STD would have been your best bet, but like worker's comp, you usually have to report that within a certain time period and be out for a specific number of days.

I would however, file a complaint with the school board that there is not soap or paper towels in the bathrooms at your school. It's not healthy, especially since schools are a playground for germs and childhood illnesses of all kinds, especially since there seems to be a growing number of people who are refusing to vaccinate their children because they believe that vaccinations are bad for you. It used to be that the only non-vaccinated children were those whose religious beliefs prevented them from vaccinating, but that is no longer the case. If we want our children to learn to wash their hands after using the toilet, then it is important to provide the necessary tools.

I don't use the student bathrooms. The teacher's bathrooms only have soap when we bring in our own liquid soap.

But the students not having it means they spread these things faster to themselves and us.

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ken_in_sc
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Stephan’s comment about student restrooms having no soap or paper towels rings true with me. I am retired now but two of the schools I taught had the same condition. Middle school students are notorious for using paper towels to stop up sinks, toilets and urinals and thereby create floods. Why there was no soap I don’t know if I ever knew. I brought my own bottle of waterless hand sanitizer and allowed students to use it. I also sprayed the desks with Lysol daily, or between classes if there was lots of coughing and sneezing. Nevertheless, I came down with the flu or a heavy cold with laryngitis at least once a year—I am grateful not to have that since retiring. At one school, after I dropped several hints about my wife working for the health department, they finally provided waterless hand sanitizer for student restrooms.
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ken_in_sc
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BTW, Teachers do not file complaints with the school board if they want to continue teaching in that school. We had what they called 'gulag schools' in our district that you could be transferred to if you caused problems.
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Belle
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Ken, welcome to Hatrack!

Several of us are teachers and then there's me - just graduated with a degree in education looking for my first job. At the school where I student taught, we used tons of waterless hand sanitizer and I thankfully did not get sick, even though I taught all through the cold and flu season.

I have, however, been warned by all my teacher friends that my day is coming. I'm hoping that being a bit older than most first-time teachers (and having four kids of my own, and catching everything under the sun from them over the years) that I'll fare a little better than most. We'll see. [Wink]

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